Ethel is finally going west instead of only writing about other people doing it. As I mentioned last week, we don't know exactly when Noah and Ethel leave Ontario for Saskatchewan, but we're sure they attended the wedding of his cousin, Edith Draper, to Frank Kavanagh at the end of January.

According to the newspaper, other things of interest were happening in North Gwillimbury Township while Noah was there with Ethel - such as how the cold temperatures of the Winter of 1911/12 affected the local ice harvest in a good news/bad news scenario...

The Newmarket Era. February 2, 1912 - Page: 6

The Newmarket Era. February 2, 1912 - Page: 7

The Newmarket Era. February 9, 1912 - Page: 8

The Newmarket Era. February 16, 1912 - Page: 6

Although these photographs aren't from 1912, they show how the lake ice was harvested.

1900, Jackson's Point, North Gwillimbury, Ontario. "Before the ice could be cut the snow was scraped off, exposing the clear ice below." Note the boxcars waiting to be loaded with blocks of ice. Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the Georgina Pioneer Museum, Keswick, Ontario. (Click image for site.)

1930's by Mary Beley. Ice Harvesting off Beley (Ferncliffe) Point. " A black and white photograph of a horse pulling what looks to be some sort of sleigh that cuts ice, with a man on it. There are men behind the horse and sleigh that appear to be pulling the ice up out of the water." Courtesy of Courtesy of http://images.ourontario.ca/

1930's by Mary Beley. Ice Harvesting off Beley (Ferncliffe) Point. "A black and white photograph of a group of men doing various tasks while harvesting ice. Some of the men are pulling blocks of ice out of the lake, some are loading the ice onto a sleigh, and some are cutting the ice." Courtesy of http://images.ourontario.ca/

1900, Jackson's Point, North Gwillimbury. "Ice workers in front of elevator and warehouse on Lake Simcoe." Courtesy of the Virtual Museum of the Georgina Pioneer Museum, Keswick, Ontario. (Click image for site.)

Noah and Ethel will leave North Gwillimbury and the ice harvest behind and take the local Grand Trunk Railway Train from North Gwillimbury, down to Toronto where they'll switch to a westbound Canadian Pacific Railway train to Grand Coulee, Saskatchewan.

In the map below, the blue line shows the route both couples will travel until they reach Winnipeg. At that point, Edith Draper and Frank Kavanagh would have switched to a train heading up a branch line to get to Togo, Saskatchewan (blue line), while Noah and Ethel would have stayed on the main line until they reached Grand Coulee, a few miles west of Regina.

The red box in the map above shows the North Shore of Lake Superior, shown in detail in the map below.

The yellow pins in the map mark locations shown in the slideshow below. I found these souvenir photos in Ethel's Treasure Box and although I don't know when they were bought, I know Noah and Ethel would have experienced these scenes while on their westward journey, so enjoy the slideshow and check the map for the locations.

This next photograph shows where Noah and Ethel will get off the train at the Grand Coulee Station in Saskatchewan. From there, it's a 3.5 mile wagon or car ride up to Adams where they'll begin their married life together.

Grand Coulee Station, undated, from the album of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson, 1912-1924. Courtesy of the Norma Draper Photograph Collection.

Join me as we continue the story of Noah Draper and Ethel Nelson with a letter from Ontario next week, followed by Ethel's first experience with a prairie cyclone.